Kamloops Amateur Radio Club

This update comes from Bill, VE7WWW:

A rather wet Field Day is under our belt. Now it's time for the RAC Canada Day contest. This year we will be operating this contest from my QTH. The operating period is from 17:00 Hrs. PDST Sat. June 30 to 17:00 PDST Sun. July 1. As in past years we will be operating in the single transmitter low power multi operator category both CW and SSB.

Canada Day can be a busy time for some and if you just have time to drop by for an hour or two by all means do so, even if it's just for a visit and a cup of coffee. If you can't make to the house please give us a call or listen for us on 2 meters 146.520 simplex. 2 meter contacts count in this contest. The exchange for this contest will be 59 BC.

Hi all,

Just wanted to post that the information in the last post is accurate for this year's field day, with regard to set-up and operation days & times, location, etc.

If you have an interest in amateur radio, please come visit us during the event and see what we're up to!

Also, I was on CFJC's Midday program last week to talk about the KARC and Field Day - here's the link to the video. Any discrepancies between what I say in the interview and what you've read elsewhere, please trust the 'elsewhere' answer. I was inaccurate on the Field Day operating hours, but I'm sure we'll be around and happy to demo/chat/etc. outside of our noon-noon contest operating period.

Anyhow, have a good weekend, good luck to all who are operating Field Day, and I look forward to updating again soon after.

Howdy all,

Don't forget about our monthly meeting coming up this Thursday, we'll likely be discussing some Field Day details among other usual business. I'd like to mention too that the meeting is open to anyone, so if you're interested or curious about amateur radio, or if you're new to the hobby and are not yet a club member, please come out and join us at our monthly meeting.

We also have to thank Myles, VE7FSR, again for heading up the hill and getting the VE7RLO (147.320+) back on the air (on the 26th of May) with Vern VE7VGO's assistance. I'm not sure if the voting controller and/or the links to any of the other repeaters are functioning yet, but at least VE7RLO's functioning well at this time.

Thanks Myles and Vern!

Speaking of Field Day, I wanted to remind everyone early where we go - the field day location is the Philip Ranch - 5380 Jackson Road in Knutsford. Click on the link to get a map with driving directions from Aberdeen Mall.

There will be Field Day signs at the intersection of Long Lake and Jackson roads, as well as at the entrance to the Philip Ranch. Look for the club trailer and other assorted vehicles on the right hand side of the road in to the ranch.

Last year's Field Day schedule was (this year's is likely to be identical):

Thursday - Free Camping
Friday - Most people will arrive and set up camping and start antenna set ups in the afternoon
Saturday - Contesting starts at noon. At 1700 hours we have our great pot luck dinner.
Sunday - Contesting ends at noon. After that, clean up of the site.

Look for more Field Day information soon, and if you would like more info. than what we're posting, please do drop us a line!

Hi all,

Website was starting to show a little dated information, so I figured we'd better get things up to speed here.

First, thanks to the quick actions of Myles, VE7FSR, the Greenstone repeater was back in action within a few days. The line feeding our main antenna was snapped, but another unused antenna was ready to be connected in and Greenstone's been happily operating on the smaller antenna since. Seems to be working great, too.

Our last club meeting at the beginning of May was our annual AGM and board elections. The majority of the members were re-elected, and we'll get the few updates to the positions posted on the Personnel page very soon.

Last, our next big item of business is Field Day, June 23-24. Mark it on your calendar and get your potluck dinner item dreamed up! We'll have more updates in the coming weeks.

Hi all,

We are having problems with the Greenstone repeater. It will be off the air for a while. Therefore the KARC 2 meter net will be on 146.520 simplex at 8PM this evening.

See you there!

Don't forget about the KARC monthly meeting this Thursday at 7:30pm at the St. Georges church at the intersection of Royal Ave. and Knox St. in North Kamloops.

Look forward to seeing you there!

The Jan/Feb issue of the The Canadian Amateur drew my attention to a few stories, this one is certainly worth sharing.

A 14 year old high school student, Vanessa Leblond-Drolet, VA2VDL, successfully completed a project to have her school complete an Amateur Radio contact with the astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

This is quite the accomplishment which will leave a lasting impression on her fellow students and the staff members.

The video of the contact is on YouTube.

A CBC radio interview with Vanessa is here.

More information on her project and some of the media attention (most in French) is at this website.

I believe Vanessa and the others involved deserve congratulations.

Hi all,

I hope some of you have the KARC news items in an RSS reader of some sort, as this reminder is a little late. However, our monthly club meeting is tonight -- hope to see you there!

Congratulations to the club members for generating 103,730 points in the RAC Canada Day Contest 2011 (pictures here), earning them top spot in the province in the Multi Operator Single Transmitter Low Power category!

This was the 3rd highest score in this category overall - well done!

Attached is the RAC certificate issued for this achievement.

Hi all,

Hope you had a good time in the BC QSO Party, certainly look forward to that one again next year.

Just dropping a quick note on the site to say that some pictures I've had waiting to go on the site for some time now have finally been added. They're in the Misc. Archives and Greenstone albums.

If you have other club pictures you'd like added to the site, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Enjoy!